


Coping Mechanisms

by annaxmims



Series: Tumblr Prompts [79]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Bisexual Eddie Diaz, Bisexual Evan "Buck" Buckley, Buck is a Good Dad, Dad Evan "Buck" Buckley, Eddie Diaz Needs a Hug (9-1-1 TV), Future Relationships, Implied Relationships, M/M, mentions of Jail
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:28:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24990811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annaxmims/pseuds/annaxmims
Summary: Tumblr Prompt:911 AU idea. Different Eddie backstory. He was put in prison for illegal street-fighting. He's getting out (after 2-3 yrs?) and wants to make things right. Shannon is dead. Chris was being raised by Abuela & Buck met them on call, when she injured her hip. He becomes Chris surrogate father figure after that. Then Eddie comes into the picture. Eddie can see how great Buck was for his son & what a great person he is, but doesn't think he'd deserve to be happy himself. But Buck thinks otherwise.
Relationships: Christopher Diaz & Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Evan "Buck" Buckley & Christopher Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Series: Tumblr Prompts [79]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1626286
Comments: 4
Kudos: 217





	Coping Mechanisms

“Diaz, let’s go.”

Eddie stood and followed the guard down the concrete hallways. The closer he got to the door, the faster his heart was racing. Freedom was so close he could taste it and he hoped that his son would be waiting for him.

Christopher had been seven when he went in and he had no idea what was happening or why his daddy was going away. They’d been in L.A for almost a year and he’d just lost his mother a few months earlier. Eddie had been beating himself up for two years for leaving his baby boy alone.

But none of that mattered when the gates buzzed open and he was met with the sight of his blonde headed boy, leaning heavily on his crutches.

“Daddy!”

Eddie rushed forward, swinging him up into his arms.

“Hi mijo,” he whispered, breathing him in.

“I missed you,” Christopher whispered, clutching his neck tightly.

“I missed you too. So much.”

Eddie was surprised his Abuela hadn’t joined the hug yet, so he pulled away from his son to look around for her, but she was nowhere to be found.

“Where’s Abuela buddy?”

“She couldn’t come. She’s sick. Buck brought me instead.”

“Who is Buck?”

“Uh that would be me.”

A tall blonde man exited the Jeep that Eddie hadn’t paid a bit of attention to. He must have been sitting in the car while he had his reunion with Christopher.

“Uh hi. I’m Evan Buckley, but everyone calls me Buck.”

Eddie sat Christopher down to shake his extended hand, “Eddie Diaz. Can I ask how you know my son?”

“Buck saved Abuela,” Christopher piped up from where he was clinging to Eddie’s leg.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Buck laughed. “She broke her hip a while back. I’m a firefighter and I usually don’t go on med calls but it was a slow day so I rode along with my paramedic friends. I kept Christopher busy while they were helping her and waited at the hospital with him until his aunt got there. By then we were pretty much best friends.”

Eddie nodded slowly. He hadn’t realized he’d missed so much. In jail, where every room and every person looked the same, time seemed to stand still, but the outside world had moved on without him.

“Buck is awesome daddy. He fights fires and saves people. A firetruck even fell on him and he was fine. Except he has a whole bunch of metal in his leg now. He’s like a superhero.”

“That’s all you superman,” Buck laughed. “I bet your dad is tired of standing out here. Let’s get him home.”

“Good idea. Daddy will you sit in the back with me?”

“Of course kiddo.”

Eddie helped him into the back of Buck’s Jeep and slid in next to him. Chris leaned his whole body weight on him, and Eddie supported it easily. He hadn’t realized how big he’d gotten in the two years he’d been gone.

“I’m tired,” he mumbled.

“You can take a nap when we get home,” Eddie said. He ran a hand over his curls, smoothing them out of his face.

Christopher didn’t make it home before he fell asleep. He carried him upstairs to his room, which hadn’t changed since Eddie had been gone.

When he made it downstairs, he found Buck still hovering awkwardly in the doorway.

“Are uh- are you guys gonna be okay?”

“We’ll be fine. I can take care of my son,” he hadn’t meant to snap but it had come out harshly anyway.

“I don’t doubt that,” Buck placated. “He talked about you all the time you know. You’re his hero.”

“I was. It sounds like I’ve been replaced,” he couldn’t help the bitter edge to his tone.

“I could never take your place. You didn’t leave him on purpose Eddie.”

“I did though. I could have avoided this,” Eddie sighed and rubbed a hand on his face. “I didn’t mean to let it get this far.”

“No one ever does,” Buck paused. “It was fighting right? That’s how you dealt with your trauma.”

“Yeah. I don’t know why. Chris and I had just moved to L.A after his mom left us. Then she came back and told me she wanted a divorce after we started sleeping together again. And then she died. And I was just so fucking angry.”

“Everyone has a drug of choice. Mine was meaningless sex.”

“Seriously?”   


“Yep. Self-diagnosed sex addict at your service. Then I met someone who changed that. Then her mother died and she ghosted me to travel the world and I have no idea why I’m telling you this,” Buck laughed sadly.

Eddie thought for a moment, “You want a beer?”

“Yeah, beer sounds good.”

Eddie was thankful for the never ending stash of beer in his fridge. Apparently someone had been stocking up for him because the bottles were still in date.

They sat in silence for a while, sipping their beers before Buck finally spoke up.

“This is weird. I’m not usually one to be at a loss for words but right now I have no idea what to say. Like I can’t just say, ‘So how was jail?’ because that’s just rude.”

Eddie spit out the sip of beer he’d just taken.

“Oh my god,” he said when his laughs had finally died down enough to speak.

“What?”

“‘So how was jail?’ I almost wish you’d asked me.”

“So how was jail?” Buck chuckled.

“Boring,” Eddie laughed. “And the food sucks. Though that part wasn’t too far off from home. I can’t cook to save my life.”

Buck laughed, “Yeah Christopher told me. He said Abuela banned you from the kitchen.”

“Little traitor,” Eddie laughed. “Thank you by the way.”

“For what?”

“Looking out for him while I was locked up. He needs a positive role model.”

“He has one.”

“I just got out of jail for street fighting,” Eddie scoffed.

“So use that. Teach him something. Christopher talks about you like you hung the moon. That’s the thing about kids, they love you unconditionally, even when you fuck up.”

“Where have you been all of my life Evan Buckley?”

“A few different places,” Buck shrugged. “But I’m here now. And I’ll still be around for Christopher, if you’ll let me.”

“Of course. You’re a good guy Buck and you were there for my son when I couldn’t be. I owe you for that.”

Buck nodded, finishing off his beer.

“I should go, I need to rest before my shift. But thank you, for still letting me be a part of Christopher’s life. That little dude means a lot to me.”

“Me too,” Eddie agreed.

“And uh, well maybe I could be part of your life too? If you’re into that I mean.”

“I would be very into that.”

Buck looked kind of shocked, “Yeah. Yeah okay. Cool.”

Eddie laughed, “I’ll see you around Buck.”

“See you around Eddie.”

Eddie shut the door behind him and proceeded to squeal like a teenage girl. He briefly contemplated texting his therapist to tell him his services were no longer needed. He’d found a healthy coping mechanism all on his own.

And Buck was much hotter than Frank.


End file.
